His Shadow Lingers (Germany x Reader x Prussia)
by ForeverRobin
Summary: It's Reader's-chan birthday! And Germany and Prussia want to celebrate at a local bar, but the festivities are halted by a photograph with a haunting past. When remnants from their pasts reappear, can their friendship stand the test of time? T for violence, language, blood and references to WWII.
1. His Shadow Lingers: Part I

**Berlin, Germany**

"Gilbert there's really no need to do this." A frown was tugging at the corners of _'s mouth. She was currently sitting on a bar stool, while Ludwig was sat on her right and Gilbert on her left.

Gilbert smirked proudly and softly padded _'s slender shoulders. "Don't be ridiculous, it's your birthday. It's the least we can do."

He gave her a quick wink and turned to a nearby bartender. He made a quick gesture with his hand and said, _"Bitte, drei Gläser Bier."_

_ sighed and finally relented. She shoulders slumped down as she relaxed and placed her arms on the cool wooden counter. As she did, she glanced behind her.

This was her first time ever visiting this bar, mainly because the German brothers insisted on taking her to a more fancier pub for her birthday than the usual one they always went to. After all, you couldn't celebrate a birthday without beer and since she was here and waiting for her drinks to arrive, she might as well have a look around.

She craned her neck to look around, taking in the sensations happening around her: the smell of alcohol and food, the loud bouts of laughter, and the zealous shouts of soccer fans watching the TV.

_ softly smiled to herself, as she felt a flow of warmth flood her body. She had never stepped into this bar, yet she felt at home here, almost like she belonged. Or maybe it was because she was spending time with people who cared about her. She turned to at Gilbert, who currently chatting up a storm with the bartender, while Ludwig was absorbed into his phone.

Wanting to get a better view of the room, _ slowly spun on her stool, so that her body was facing the rest of the room. Despite the bar looking rather old fashioned, many of the tables were full, some patrons even conjoined tables together to make room for others.

Looking past them, _ surveyed the rest of the room absentmindedly until something caught her eye.

In the back of the room, she noticed, old photos encased in sleek, black frames, that were neatly placed next to each other on a cream colored wall. On top of the photos a label with big, black, bold letters read, Memories, but in German.

Her curiosity aroused, she stood up and quickly jogged across the room, only slowing down to weave her way past people, hoping to take a quick glance at them before Gilbert or Ludwig noticed her missing.

Looking closer at the photos, her brows knit together as she looked up and slowly read the dates out loud. She stopped to look at the frame labeled, "November 12, 1928."

The photograph, obviously in black and white, showed a group of men (wearing presumably military uniforms) raising their beer glasses in mid toast, their grinning faces forever frozen.

Her eyes glanced at each smiling face, most of them unknown to her, except for two. To her shock, standing in the middle of the group, with a grin as wide as a cheshire cat, were Gilbert and Ludwig. They didn't even look a year older.

_'s eyes widened in disbelief. _"But how–?"_

"_."

"AHH!" She shrieked as she jerked up in surprise as she whirled around to come face-to-face with Ludwig.

"Oh." She gasped softly as she tensely clutched her necklace, "It's only you."

A hot burning sensation crept up both her cheeks. _"Great, first I freak out over Ludwig simply calling my name and now I'm blushing_. _I hope he doesn't notice.__"_

Ludwig looked startled himself, but quickly gave her a small, apologetic smile.

"Sorry," he began. "I didn't mean to scare you. Our drinks are here and I didn't know where you…"

His voice trailed off as his eyes slowly made its way to the photo.

His eyes seemed to soften despite his facial expression never changing. This didn't surprise _ since Ludwig was always known for being the most stoic among the trio. However, he had become unusually quiet.

"Ludwig…" _ murmured softly.

She glanced at the picture again, noticing the instant similarities between Ludwig and his doppelganger in the photo.

"Is that you?" She asked cautiously. Her voice gradually becoming louder. "I m-mean it's possible that it could be your grandpa or–."

_"But, even if it is his ancestor,"_ _ pondered. _"It still doesn't explain why Gilbert looks exactly like he does in the photo-."_

"_."

"Y-yes?" She responded timidly.

_ slightly winced, chiding herself for how rude she sounded, prying into his private life and asking about his possibly dead grandpa like a disrespectful heathen.

He shifted, as if he was trying to snap himself out of a trance and gingerly placed one hand on the back of his neck. His eyes flickered nervously between _ and the photo sitting patiently in front of them as he shuffled his feet.

_"Why is he so nervous?"_ She mused.

"_." He finally began. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I haven't found the right time."

_'s breath hitched with a sudden realization. "What if he's an angel? I mean I always wondered if God existed, but I never expected to meet an angel! Gilbert on the other hand—."

"The thing is," He continued. "Gilbert and I have a very special job."

"I knew it!"

"It's just like being a soldier, except when your a soldier, eventually you will retire from service."

The wheels to her train of thought came to a screeching halt. A wave of confusion crashed over her. "Ludwig, I don't understand. Aren't you in the military? Why wouldn't you retire?"

Ludwig opened his mouth to say more, but Gilbert had arrived ending the conversation between them.

"Where the hell have you two been!?" He jokingly roared, ignoring the glares of other patrons. "Our drinks have already arrived and the waiter keeps side eyein' at me like I might steal something!"

Despite the noisy atmosphere surrounding the three of them, neither Ludwig or _ could think of anything to say.

Gilbert looked curiously between them. "What's up with you two? Is everything alright?"

_ smiled weakly and said, "Everything is fine." She glanced at Ludwig for reassurance.

"Right Luddy?" Using Ludwig's pet name always gave a sense of comandrie between the two of them.

Ludwig seemed to get the gist and gave a reassuring pat on Gilbert's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for making you worry Bruder. I'll try to be more considerate." "Besides," he said, "It's _'s birthday and we still haven't properly celebrated it." He gave a small smile, hoping to win over his brother.

Gilbert however, had been used to those smiles before, but sensing the mood was tense, Gilbert simply nodded and wordlessly made his way towards the front.

"Coming _?" Ludwig asked following suit.

Taking one last glance behind her _ stared back at the photo, transfixed by its mystery. There were still so many questions left unanswered. Who really were Ludwig and Gilbert? Why did they still look the same after all these years and what was so important about Ludwig and Gilbert's job that it became a secret even to her?

"I have to find out. It's impossible...they can't be that old." _ thought as she finally broke her gaze from the photo and began making her way back.

As the trio sat down comfortably in their seats, all three friends knew that sooner or later, questions would need answers.

* * *

**In this universe, Reader-chan doesnt know that her friends are immortal countries. Germany and Prussia forgot that a couple of years ago they went to this same pub and now their cover is blown. :)**

**Also, I have no idea if people are allowed to move tables in pubs, so forgive me if the scene involving it sounded out of touch. **

**I only plan on making two chapters to this story, so the final installment should be comin' real soon. **

**Until then, Adios!**


	2. His Shadow Lingers: Part II

Despite the festive mood surrounding the three of them, something had changed within the group. Unbeknownst to the brothers _ was reeling.

After the three of them finally returned to their seats they thanked the bartender for their drinks and after that, it became quiet again. With the awkward silence hovering around them it seemed like an eternity before Gilbert spoke up.

"So..." Gilbert said taking a swig of his beer. "Got any other plans for your birthday?"

_ jerked up, shaken from staring absent mindlessly at her glass.

"Sorry!" She yelped. She quickly looked away, embarrassed at being caught. "I was lost in thought." It seemed that photograph had derailed her ability to enjoy her own birthday.

Gilbert took a long sip and set his glass down. "What's got you thinking so much on your birthday?"

_ hesitated. Although she knew Gilbert and Ludwig for some time there were certain things that indicated that there was something odd about both of them. It began with minor things; when they went running, the brothers rarely took breaks, when _'s kitten got trapped behind her fridge she called Ludwig for help and he moved an entire fridge all by himself. Of course this could be chalked up to his muscle strength, that didn't explain how Ludwig managed to make it look so easy.

Naturally, she kept these sentiments to herself, but now that she had seen the photo, there was no doubt there were immortal. Or least supposedly. She didn't exactly have any physical proof other than the photo to support her claim, but they couldn't deny either.

But, still…

Her shoulders tensed as she glanced to look at her tabletop partner with unease as she locked eyes with Gilbert's sincere crimson eyes.

"_?"

_ gave no response instead, choosing to look elsewhere while her face hadn't moved from Gilbert's point of view.

"_." Gilbert said with more urgency causing her to look at him.

Gilbert gently took _'s hands and intertwined them with his own. He leaned forward, his jaw flexing with uncertainty before at last speaking in a hushed voice.

"There's something bothering you isn't there?" _ immediately turned away as she felt tears began to well up in her eyes. As much as she wanted to pretend that the photograph wasn't affecting her, it was.

What made her feel even worse was that, despite how standoffish she was being Gilbert was still trying to comfort her. It was just too much. Still clumsily holding his hand, _ tried her best to wipe away her falling tears. In a split second, Gilbert's confident smile and demeanor changed.

Since they were already in close proximity to each other Gilbert didn't need to reach far to engulf _ into his warm embrace. When tears began running down her face, _ instinctively leaned into him, resting her head against his broad chest.

Gilbert simply rubbed her back as she tried her best to control her shaking shoulders and quiet her sobs. _"Whatever's bothering her must be eating her up inside to make her cry like this."_ he thought glumly.

Eventually her whimpers began to die down and gradually she lifted her head as she wiped away the remaining tears and the loose hair sticking to her face, still wrapped in Gilbert's embrace.

"Are you feeling better now?" Gilbert mumbled softly as stroked the ends of her hair.

_ blushed and nodded profusely, as it dawned on her how close she and Gilbert were.

When Gilbert had hugged _ earlier, she ended being pulled out of her seat and engulfed in Gilbert's embrace while he towered over her. After what seemed like an eternity, _ reluctantly pulled away and softly whispered "Thank you." in between sniffles.

"No problem." Gilbert replied, giving her a gentle grin. His grin slightly faltered when he noticed the tears still clinging to her eyes.

"Shit." He muttered as he searched around desperately searching for a tissue. Unable to find one in his pockets or his shirt he looked around frantically until he remembered that a bathroom was nearby. Reaching out for _'s hand, Gilbert wordlessly began to make his way towards the bathroom.

The bars were usually busy at night, so it took a lot of restraint for Gilbert not to push his way through the crowd, but given that it was _'s birthday, he decided that it would be best to start a bar fight some other time. That and he didn't want to go through another boring lecture about how he was "too old" to be starting fights._ "As if that stopped me before."_ He smirked to himself.

Nonetheless, it didn't take long for them to reach their destination. Gilbert quickly dashed inside to grab some tissues while _ waited outside.

By the end of the night _ was completely exhausted, physically and emotionally. She thought she had known the brothers for years, but now that feeling had evaporated within one night. At this point she felt like she never actually knew them in the first place. After all if he was immortal, what else was he hiding? What else were they not telling her? _ sighed mournfully and leaned against the wall. And now that she knew about their sec it could be the end of their friendship as well. If she confessed, how would they react?

_ could feel tears begin to well up again. _"Maybe ignorance is bliss. I wouldn't have to wrestle with this doubts in my head." __ did have to admit, she didn't blame Gilbert or Ludwig for not telling her. It was a pretty big bombshell drop on someone. Plus, it could have potentially ruined their relationship and they probably didn't want the unnecessary attention it could bring either.

But, now that she knew they were immortal she had so many questions to ask. Her sad frown began to perk up at the though of all the questions she had in mind for them. How did they become immortal? What happened if they were fatally wounded? Do they have a healing factor? How long have they been alive?

Now that she thought about it, they had probably witnessed so many historic events, she couldn't even imagine the mountains of stories and anecdotes that Gilbert and Ludwig had to share. _ had so many questions she could feel herself twitching with growing enthusiasm.

Maybe having immortal friends wasn't a bad thing after all and even if it was true, it wouldn't hurt to know right? _ had come to a decision. She was going to tell Gilbert and eventually Ludwig what she saw. If they denied it, she would let the topic go and never bring it up again. If they said yes...

Well, _ hadn't really thought far ahead about what to do if they said yes. Hell, she was still reeling from the seeing the picture a half an hour ago. If the brothers confessed then she would deal with her reactions from there.

Gathering up the little courage she had, she stood, her body no longer leaning against the wall and raised her head just in time to see Gilbert dashing out with a small wad of toilet paper in his outstretched hand. _ slowly reached out and took it. She paused for a moment and then asked, "Gil...are you immortal?"

* * *

**So, remember when I said that the next installation of this story would be coming real soon? Well, I lied :U**

**In other news, I'm a college student now, so posting more stories will be harder than ever. I still will be behind the scenes writing though, so that hasn't changed. **

**Also, because I wanted to get this story out as soon as possible it will have some grammatical errors, however later on I will update it with a newer version. Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Until then, Au revoir!**


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